Educational School Visits
What sets us apart here at Greatworth Hall Farm Education Centre is that we integrate curriculum learning into a real life context.
We feel that in order to be well informed about farming practices, where food comes from, how to care for our countryside and how to live a healthy lifestyle, children should experience such things first-hand. We teach children where meat comes from, the lifecycle of a sheep and a chicken, and non-organic farming practices. This teaches and helps them to understand the countryside in a clear and honest way. Often farming is misrepresented by media or by people who simply do not know or understand the industry; we want to correct this image by being transparent with children as we share our industry with them.
To find out more about how your school can engage with us please continue down the page…
Community Visits
We feel that it's important to engage with the local communities around us, particularly as we run the risk as farmers of living in isolation. Therefore we are very happy to accommodate visits from groups such as Brownies and Scouts, as well as Rotary Clubs, Nursing Homes and others.
Your time at the facilities here could consist of many things, from just a simple tour of our site and a little insight into who we are and what we do, right through to a fully catered menu for your group, with plenty of interaction both on the farm and from us as farmers, particularly at annual highlights in the farming calendar such as lambing.
Forest Schools
Rosie is Forest School Leader trained (level 3) and runs morning and afternoon Forest School sessions with local schools.
Day Visits
It is important to us at Greatworth Hall that the learning done on the farm compliments the learning in school. We understand that teachers have a lot to achieve each year and we want the farm visit to be part of that rather than produce additional work for teachers. Therefore, the activities we run link strongly to the national curriculum and are always a starting point for more learning in school.
A typical farm visit includes the following:
Lessons planned by a qualified teacher with learning objectives and success criteria linked to the national curriculum
Strong links to learning in school, including mathematics, English or science work.
Up to four hands on activities planned and delivered throughout the day
The opportunity for children take something home with them at the end of the day, such as food they have prepared or cooked, artwork, or a plant in a home-made plant pot.
A one-off day visit is a good way of experiencing what we offer and can be particularly appealing if farming is a topic you are covering in school. The day generally lasts between 9.30a.m and 2.30p.m, but timings can be negotiated and altered to fit in with your transport.
Our Partner Farm
We are passionate about children truly understanding seasonality at Greatworth Hall Farm Education Centre. For this reason we have established a partnership with schools through which children can interact with the changing seasons over the year. It is a great way to link curriculum subjects with outdoor learning, seasonal change, and fun learning activities year round.
Our Partner Farm Scheme provides schools with the following, in addition to the provision for day visits:
4 visits to the farm in an academic year (suggested 1 per season)
Follow a field - learn the process of seed to harvest
Track a tree - observe seasonal changes in nature
Adopt a sheep - follow a sheep through its yearly cycle
The scheme has been designed to foster a close relationship with schools and children. When schools partner with us, children have a greater sense of ownership and belonging each time they visit the farm.
It is the school's decision how they use the Our Partner Farm Scheme so that it works for them. Some choose for one year group to connect with us, others involve the whole school, or a whole key stage.
Typically the Partner Farm visits are a mixture of outdoor learning and specific farm focussed learning. It is the school's decision what they would like to focus on and what activities will be offered.
We have seen the value in putting learning into real life contexts. Our aim on the farm is not to teach children how to be farmers but rather to enthuse their learning and help them to recognise the value and place of their curriculum subjects in real life.
We want to create memorable and enjoyable learning experiences for all children irrespective of their background and academic ability. We believe that all children have the right to the same opportunities and recognise that those who grow up in the countryside, engaging with the changing seasons and rural life, have some advantages that others may not. Learning outside of school and in the countryside offers the huge benefit of seeing science, maths, geography and other curriculum areas in action. We feel it is important that all children have the opportunity to experience this.